jeudi 18 décembre 2014

In Luke’s Gospel Mary twice calls herself “handmaid”—a poetic English
translation for a “female servant”—in today’s story of the Annunciation and,
ten verses later in the same chapter, in her “Magnificat.” By it she expresses
her eagerness to serve the Lord.

That desire to serve, naturally, extended also to others. Her cousin
Elizabeth, and the bride and groom at Cana, are specifically described as
benefiting from it. It is the same spirit that prompted her to appear at La
Salette.

The Beautiful Lady came in the service of her Son, distressed as she
was at the abuse of his name and the neglect of his grace. She reminded us also
of how active she has always been on our behalf, “pleading constantly” with her
Son for us.

This inclination to act on behalf of others is a manifestation of
Mary’s motherhood. It was, after all, in accepting to be the Savior’s mother
that she called herself “handmaid.” Mothers are typically “servants” for a
significant number of years. Like Our Lady of La Salette, they are deeply
solicitous for the well-being of their children and, like her, they weep
sometimes.

In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, Mary is called Cause of our Joy.
In the litany of our lives, we are too often the cause of her sorrow. It
doesn’t have to be that way.

Besides admiring her spirit of service and being thankful for it, we
can imitate it. In today’s first reading we see how the desire of God’s
“servant” David to do something special for God was rewarded with a promise to
be fulfilled in the words of the Angel Gabriel: “Of his kingdom there will be
no end.”

This is by no means an invitation to a comfortable existence. Mary’s
life was far from easy: “How long a time I have suffered for you!”

She dedicated her life to service, exemplifying what St. Paul would
later write: “To him who can strengthen you…, to the only wise God, through
Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.”

All God’s handmaids and servants seek his glory.

Theotokos, Icon by Sr. Magdalen Antonia, Sister of the Society of St. Antony Egypt